Systems and methods for translating sports tracking data into statistics and performance measurements

ABSTRACT

System and methods for automatically determining states of game object possession for sporting contests. The system uses the minimum necessary and sufficient data, including the predefined tracking layout, official game time-in versus time-out data, centroid location of each player matched with their identity data and centroid location of the game object data which is then converted deterministically into at least clock states and game object movement states. The system and methods also disclose the further combining of these states into the determination of the cycle of possession flow. For determining the states of possession of the game object, the system and methods disclose using either an instantaneous or average measured distance between each player and the game object in combination with a minimum radius defining each player&#39;s area of influence and a minimum time necessary for the game object to be within this area before possession can be assigned.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/438,613, filed on Feb., 5, 2010, the contents of which areincorporated by reference herein, in their entirety and for allpurposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems and methods for translatingsports tracking data into meaningful sports statistics and performancemeasurements

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Currently, creating statistics concerning a sporting event is an errorprone manual operation that is greatly limited by the extent of humanobservation. In practice, there are one or more individuals present at agiven sporting contest to at least run the dock and keep score. At themore competitive and professional levels, it is not unusual to haveseveral statisticians at the game, each tracking a particular statisticand perhaps using a laptop computer to do this in real-time.

For the remainder of the application, the present inventor will provideexamples with respect to the sport of ice hockey, although it will beunderstood by those familiar with sports and the technologies discussedherein, that these same teachings are applicable to all sports thatshare at least the following traits:

-   -   1. They are played within a predefined area;    -   2. They include at least one player that moves about within this        predefined area;    -   3. They may include at least one player in opposition to that        player who also moves about within the predefined area;    -   4. They may include a game object that is used by a player as a        part of scoring points to win the contest;    -   5. The predefined area may be broken into real or virtual areas,        such as but not limited to one player's side versus the other;    -   6. Each opposing side, or some other portion of the predefined        area, may then also have within it a specific goal area where        points may be scored by a player using the game object;    -   7. The contest may have a time limit that is tracked by an        official game clock, and    -   8. If there is a time limit than this total game time may be        broken into segments between which the players may or may not        exchange opposing sides.

There are many sports today that share these traits such as but notlimited to:

Ice Hockey (Field Hockey, Roller Hockey);

-   -   American Football;    -   Soccer;    -   Baseball;    -   Basketball;    -   Tennis;    -   Volleyball;    -   Squash (Raquetball);    -   Etc.

Furthermore, although it is not a requirement for the benefits of thepresent teachings, many of these sports have opposing teams of more thanone player each. In general, these team sports all follow a generalpattern, specifically:

-   -   1. Each team defends their half of the predefined area that        includes a goal where the other team may score points;    -   2. Points are scored by in some way getting the game object        into, through, across, etc. the opponent's goal;    -   3. At the beginning of the game or one of its segments, the game        object is either given specifically and alternatively to one        team for its control or it is set free by a game official to be        immediately contested for;    -   4. The team that has control of the game object tries to keep        control within the game rules as they advance the game object        towards the opponent's goal; this team is currently on offense;    -   5. The opposing team tries to gain control of the game object so        that they can then proceed towards their opponent's goal, or in        general they try to impede or thwart within the game rules the        offensive team from getting the game object into, through,        across, etc. their goal; this team is currently on defense;    -   6. Often either the offensive or defensive team will break the        game rules, sometimes with strategic intention for which they        will be penalized, and    -   7. Each time a team manages to get the game object into,        through, across, etc. the opponent's goal, they are awarded        points that are then totaled into their score and at the end of        the game determine the contest winner.

Presently, there are many inventors who have proposed various ideas forfollowing the movements of the one or more players and the game object.Some examples of their proposed devices include:

-   -   Active beacons to be worn on each player, or held within the        game object that emit some form of energy that may be remotely        detected and triangulated thereby providing at least position        information if not also orientation and often identity;    -   Passive markers to be worn on each player, or on the game        object, that can react with some form of tracking energy emitted        from a source, where the reaction causes energy to leave the        marker in such a way that it may then be detected by one or more        energy detectors thereby providing at least position information        if not also orientation and often identity;    -   Energy sensing systems that detect emitted and/or reflected        energy from each player or game object without the presence or        active beacons or passive markers, where the energy may then be        detected and used to determine at least position information if        not also orientation and often identity, or    -   Some combination of the above.

These approaches of using active beacons, passive markers, and/or simplydetecting emitted or reflected energy off of the players or game objectsrepresent the span of total solutions for player and game objecttracking known to the present inventor.

The exact method of gathering player and game object location andoptionally orientation is in material for the teachings of the presentinvention, except that these methods provide real-time quantified datasuch as X, Y or X, Y, Z coordinates exactly locating a player or gameobject within the playing area in some known and calibrated measurementsystem, regardless of precision. As previously stated, the presentinventor is aware of working systems including those from Trakus, Inc.of Massachusetts using active beacons and from Fox Sports using IRtransmitters embedded in the game object (in practice shown for an icehockey puck.)

In addition to Trakus, the present inventor is aware of at least oneuniversity that is also working to provide similar or variant solutions,namely the University or British Columbia.

And finally, as disclosed in referenced applications, the presentinventor has also taught systems for automatically and remotely,:

-   -   1. determining the ongoing location of a player within the        predefined area;    -   2. optionally determining the continuous orientation of the        player for each determined position;    -   3. optionally determining, either continuously or        intermittently, the identity of the player being tracked through        various locations, and    -   4. determining the ongoing location of the game object within        the predefined area.

In addition to this player and game object tracking information, thepresent inventor has also taught in these same referenced applicationsdifferent means for obtaining official game information such as but notlimited to, current or total playing time, current period or segment ofthe playing time, current score by team, current penalty or infractioninformation, etc. The present inventor is not aware of other systemssimilarly purposed but could imagine that they might exist and for thepurposes of the present teachings the only important point is that theofficial game data is obtained in time combination with the player andgame object tracking data.

To the best understanding of the present inventor, regardless of theapparatus or methods used to determine the player and game objectlocations and orientation, there are no know systems for translatingthis information into anything more than the simplest of statistics.Therefore, given the current state of the art in automatic systems fortracking player and game object movement as well as real-timeinformation processing systems, it is now possible to create a newwealth of statistics, performance measurements and dynamic game momentumindicators that far exceed human based observation in their objectivity,accuracy, temporal and special granularity, scope, etc.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art of real-time dataacquisition, the teachings of the present invention are thereforeuniversally applicable regardless of the specific apparatus and methodsused to collect the player and game object tracking information or theofficial game data. As will also be understood by those skilled in theart of sports, the teachings of the present invention are equallyapplicable to virtually all sports and especially those sharing thecommon traits previously enumerated.

It is the object of the present invention to provide apparatus andmethods for automatically determining ongoing and real-time statisticsand performance measurements at least encompassing those currentlydetermined by human observation by translating the continuous input ofplayer and game object tracking information as well as time coordinateofficial game data. It is still further an object that these statisticsand performance measurements have several aspects that are universallycomparable across levels of age and competitive experience within agiven sport and even across one or more sports. It is still further anobject that these statistics and performance measurements be correlatedin time with not only the player and game object tracking informationbut also with any game video being concurrently captured at least insuch a way that the information may be automatically and intelligentlyapplied as overlays to the video stream(s). Still further objects andadvantages of the present invention will become apparent from aconsideration of the drawings and ensuing description.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an expanded version of the statistics that might be typicallycollected at a professional ice hockey game.

FIG. 2 depicts the herein taught minimum necessary and sufficient datafor determining important and useful statistics and performanceinformation such as depicted in FIG. 1, FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 whichincludes the predefined tracking area layout, the current time on thegame clock, the current centroid of each player and the current centroidof the puck (game object.)

FIG. 3 is an illustration depicting the various ways that a puck (thegame object) might come into, or alternatively leave the possession of agiven player, via his stick (controlling equipment) blade.

FIG. 4a is an illustration depicting the circular nature of thepossession flow cycle within a hockey game (most opponent based sports)that consists of gaining control, exchanging control and relinquishingcontrol.

FIG. 4b is a table relating the detectable clock and puck movementstates as well as the puck from-to and heading towards locations to thepossession flow events depicted in FIG. 4a . Each of these detectablestates and locations can be determined using the minimum necessary andsufficient data from FIG. 2.

FIG. 5a depicts apparatus and methods taught by the present inventor inprior referenced applications that teach the use of an a first grid ofoverhead tracking cameras that provide data to a tracking system that inturn uses standard machine vision algorithms to at least continuouslytrack each player's current position and potentially their orientationand identity. In the preferred embodiment the players are wearing someencoded passive marker on their upper surface mostly in view of thetracking cameras, where this marker might be a helmet sticker.

FIG. 5b depicts a design for an encoding helmet sticker taught by thepresent inventor in prior referenced applications that uses amonochromatic tone and shape based encoding method.

FIG. 5c depicts an alternative design for a helmet sticker where theshapes are concentric circles or either monochromatic or color basedvariations in fixed size relationships so as to provide additionaldepth-to-sticker information via detected shape pixel size.

FIG. 5d depicts apparatus and methods taught by the present inventor inprior referenced applications that teaches the use of a second set ofplayer identification cameras that are automatically directed to followthe player based upon location information first determined by theoverhead tracking cameras. The result is to capture images of eachplayer's official jersey number, the pictures of which are thenprocessed via pattern matching and related well known machine visiontechniques in order to determine each player's unique number andtherefore identity.

FIG. 5e further depicts apparatus and methods taught by the presentinventor in prior referenced applications that teaches the use of asecond set of player identification cameras that are automaticallydirected to follow the player based upon location information firstdetermined by the overhead tracking cameras.

FIG. 5f depicts apparatus and methods taught by the present inventor inprior referenced applications that teach the use of machine vision toremotely and continuously translate the visual character output of thegame scoreboard into digital information, segregated appropriately intomeaningful titled groups, in a time synchronized fashion with thecollected game video and game tracking information.

FIG. 6a depicts a method taught by the present inventor in priorreferenced applications that teaches the steps of first: capturing acurrent image of a portion of the playing area with a single overheadcamera; second: subtracting this current image from a stored backgroundimage of the same area taken when it was known that no players orforeground objects were present and then performing some variant of edgedetection on this subtracted image to obtain a gradient image; third,searching the gradient image for all spatially isolated foregroundobjects that might be one or more players, players' sticks, the gameobject or some combination, and for each isolated foreground objectsearching to detect the location of any encoded markers such as a helmetsticker or the location of the game object such as the puck, and: forth,to output this continuously determined helmet sticker location andorientation information as well as the stick location, puck location, asfound within any given current image.

FIG. 6b depicts an animation that may be created based upon eachplayer's located helmet sticker and stick as well as the puck. Thehelmet sticker may be directly translated into the location andorientation of the player's helmet while additional machine vision canbe used to place an oval around the player's body, rectangles aroundtheir gloves and sticks for arms. From the minimum data of just thehelmet sticker location and the puck location, a continuous distancefrom player-to-puck may be calculated and compared against a minimumdistance threshold; where the player may only be assigned possession ifthe puck is within reach, calculable as the player-to-puck distancebeing less than the minimum distance threshold.

FIG. 7 depicts pre-known information such as the size of the player'shelmet, body cavity, stick, etc. that is added to the minimum fixed andpre-known data shown in FIG. 2. Also depicted is helmet stickerorientation, as well as stick location and orientation, that is added tothe minimum continuously changing data shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 depicts the four possible situations of puck (game object)possession with respect to two or more players (in this case opposingplayers,) namely: Cycle 999, the puck is outside of either player'sregion of control and therefore neither player can be assumed to havepossession; Cycle 999+m, the puck is within a first player's region ofcontrol and outside of the second (other) player's region for at leastsome minimal duration and therefore possession can be assumed to restwith the first player; Cycle 999+m+n, the puck is within the region ofcontrol of both the first and second (other) player for at least someminimal duration and therefore it can be assumed that possession isbeing contested, and Cycle 999+m+n+o, the puck now lies within thesecond player's region of control and outside of the first (other)player's region for at least some minimal duration and thereforepossession can be assumed to now rest with the second player.

FIG. 9 depicts a flowchart tracing the steps generally corresponding tothe situations shown in FIG. 8 and teaching how the minimal data ofclock time, player(s) centroid and puck (game object) centroid(s) can beused to determine the revolving puck states of “free,” “undercontention,” and “in possession.”

FIG. 10 depicts the tracked predefined area, in this case a hockey rink,where the normally divided regions such as the defensive, neutral andattack zones are further sub-divided into standardized sub-units forminga scoring web. The use of a scoring web to parse data allows for thecreation of statistics to be accumulated in association with these finersub-units for later meaningful comparison.

FIG. 11 depicts a portion of the tracked predefined area, in this casethe home team's defensive zone, where the sub-units of the scoring webhave been coded and where lanes have been defined representing thepotential path of the game object between players and between playersand the goal.

FIG. 12 is a perspective depiction of an ice hockey goal in relation toa puck somewhere outside of the goal showing possible preferred anglesof shot towards the goal such that the end location of the shot is oneof a set of five preferred goal areas typically assumed to be the leastdefensible by the guarding goalie. Similar to the manner for breakingdown the tracking area into an additional scoring web, the goal (in thiscase the opening of the net) is also broken into sub-units that may beused to create more meaningful statistics.

FIG. 13 includes the traditional statistics of FIG. 1 as well asproposed new statistics and performance measurements, together farexceeding the current capacities of human observation. All of this datais shown to be calculable from the minimum necessary and sufficient dataof FIG. 1, but can be refined if also using the extended data added inFIG. 7.

FIG. 14 is similar to FIG. 13 in proposing new statistics and gamemeasurements, again wholly based on FIG. 1 data but preferably based onFIG. 7 data.

SPECIFICATION

Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a basic set of statistics 300 that istypically collected via human observation and data entry for aprofessional ice hockey game. These statistics include:

-   -   Ice Time that equals a duration that some player or group of        players was in the field-of-play;    -   Shots on Goal that equals the number of scoring attempts made by        a player or group of players;    -   Chances that equals a subjective narrowing of Shots on Goal to        include only those shots perceived to have a reasonable chance        of scoring;    -   Goals that equals the number of scores made by a player or group        of players;    -   Face-Offs (Won/Lost) that equals the number of “time-in”        situations where both teams are contesting for game object        (puck) control where one player or group of players either won        or lost the contested possession;    -   Penalty Minutes that equals a duration that some player or group        of players was in the penalty area, just off the field-of-play,        and    -   Turnovers that equals the number of times a player or group of        players, first: has possession, and then second: loses        possession to the opponent, typically not as the result of a        time-out or shot attempt.

While not identical to other sports, these statistics 300 are exemplaryof the type of information desirable to know in all sports and can bebroken down into some general facts that are universally applicable, atleast to opponent based sports with one or more players per team, whereeach team defends a goal, specifically these facts are:

-   -   What is the breakdown of the playing area with respect to all        player and game object movement, including the team bench area,        the allowed field of play, the scoring or goal areas and any        penalty waiting areas, etc.;    -   With respect to all player and game object movement, when is        official “time-in” vs. “time-out”?;    -   What is the sport rule for game object possession at the point        of official “time-in,” i.e. does “time-in” start with possession        awarded or contested?;    -   Where is each player at all times during official “time-in” with        respect to the playing area(s)?, and    -   Where is the game object at all times during official “time-in”        with respect to the playing area(s)?

Referring next to FIG. 2, what the present inventor will show, and thecore teaching of the present invention, is that there is a minimumnecessary and sufficient set of data 100 that must be determined inorder to automatically produce all currently collected manual statisticssuch as 300 and subsequently an entire new beneficial set of performancemeasurements (such as 310 shown in FIGS. 13, and 320 shown in and FIG.14.) This minimum set of data 100 comprises:

Predefined Tracking Area Layout data 110 of the playing field, benchareas, penalty areas, etc.:

1. this is typically a fixed (unchanging) pre-known; Current Time ofGame data 122 including points of “Time-In” and “Time-Out”:

1. this can be determined automatically by:

-   -   a. receiving data output from the official scorer tables console        that is manually operated and sends control signals to the game        scoreboard (taught by the present inventor in prior referenced        applications;)    -   b. detecting the unique sonic frequencies indicative of a game        official's whistle being blown for determining typically        “time-out” but also often “time-in” (taught by other inventors;)        -   some key drawbacks of this “listening” method are:            -   1. false positives, e.g. from a fan blowing a whistle;            -   2. low signal to noise, e.g. during extreme situations                when ambient crowd noise overcomes whistle sound                vibrations;            -   3. susceptibility to human error in signal, e.g. when an                official blows the whistle in an insufficient manor to                create the necessary sonic signal, and            -   4. lacks identity information, e.g. only indicates that                a whistle was blown and not which official blew the                whistle;    -   c. detecting air-flow of a game official's whistle for        determining typically “time-out” but also often “time-in”        (taught by the present inventor in prior referenced        applications;)    -   d. detecting manual release of the game object for determining        “time-in” typically initiating a contested possession situation        (taught by the present inventor in prior referenced        applications,) or by    -   e. detecting changing patterns of energy radiation from at least        one game scoreboard face s that displays the official game clock        for the audience (taught by the present inventor in prior        referenced applications;)

Current X, Y Centroid Location of each ID'd Player data 124 with respectto the Predefined Tracking Area:

1. this can be determined automatically by:

-   -   a. tracking active (powered) beacons affixed on some ideal        central location on each player (taught by other inventors;)    -   some key drawbacks of this beacon method are:        -   1. requires powered beacon to be placed on player which is            against most current sport league rules, is costly and is            inconvenient to monitor battery life;        -   2. emitted signal is typically omni-directional and            therefore is useful for determining position via            triangulation but does not easily provide beacon and            therefore player orientation (however, note that player            orientation is not a minimum fact taught by the present            invention as necessary for determining the initial class of            useful statistics 300);        -   3. susceptible to false-positives due to signal reflections            off venue structures, and        -   4. requires expensive signal detecting apparatus without a            broad general market to aggressively bring down costs over            time;    -   b. using machine vision, first: tracking gross locations of        players, and second: detecting encoded passive markings placed        on players to yield both centroid. and identity (taught by the        present inventor,) or    -   c. using machine vision for first, tracking gross locations of        players and using calculating centroid, and then second, for        reading the jersey numbers off player uniforms and performing        pattern matching/OCR to determine identity (taught by the        present inventor.)

Current X, Y Centroid Location of the Game Object data 126 with respectto the Predefined Tracking Area;

-   -   1. this can be determined automatically by:    -   a. tracking active (powered) beacons affixed or contained within        the game object (taught by other inventors;)    -   some key drawbacks of this beacon method are:        -   1. requires powered beacon to be placed on the game object            which may be against sport league rules, may alter the game            objects performance, is costly and is inconvenient to            monitor battery life;        -   2. susceptible to false-positives due to signal reflections            off venue structures, and        -   3. requires expensive signal detecting apparatus without a            broad general market to aggressively bring down costs over            time.    -   b. using machine vision to track the solely the game object        (taught by other inventors); for which a key drawback is:        -   1. does not also track and preferably identify the players,            thus requiring an additional set of apparatus for this            necessary portion of the minimum necessary set of data.    -   c. or, using machine vision to track the game object while also        tracking and identifying the players (taught by the present        inventor.)

As will be shown in the ensuing specification, by securing this minimumnecessary and sufficient set of data 100, and most particularly thecontinuously changing data 120, it is possible to create a wealth ofimportant statistics 300 and other performance data 310 and 320 (of FIG.13 and FIG. 14 respectively.) The teachings of the present invention arecentered on the methods for translating this synchronized stream ofminimum data 100 into useable information such as depicted in FIG. 1 andthen also in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14. Although the present inventor prefersthe approaches for determining this information as taught in his priorreferenced applications, the present teachings do not limit the sourcesof any portion of the minimum data 100. For instance, the presentinvention will function perfectly well, and has novelty, even if:

-   -   the official “time-in” and “time-out” are determined using the        whistle “listening” approach taught by other inventors;    -   the current player location and identification are determined        using active beacons taught by other inventors;    -   the current game object location is determined using still        another type of active beacon taught by the same or other        inventors, or    -   the minimum data is obtained using any combination of the these        apparatus or methods not taught by the present inventors, in any        combination with the prior referenced teachings of the present        inventor or in any combination with future as of yet unknown        apparatus and methods for obtaining some piece or all of the        minimum data 100.

Therefore, again referring to FIG. 2 and in varied restatement, what ismost important is that the apparatus and methods taught herein haveavailable as minimum data 100:

-   -   1. pre-knowledge of the layout of the playing field, team bench        and penalty areas, data 110;    -   2. continuous knowledge of the time on the official game clock,        data 122;    -   3. continuous knowledge of each player's ID and location, data        124, and    -   4. continuous knowledge of the game object's location, data 126.

As will be understood by those familiar with the art of real-time datacollection and analysis, each captured or determined data point issynchronized to all other data points, for all types of related data,via identification with the real instance of time that the data pointwas taken, either in a global or local time reference system. Thisimplies that the current game clock time data 110, which is itself dataseparate from the global or local time, is captured and stored in indexto the global or local time. Note that the global or local time ispreferably continuous and uniformly incremented while the clock timedata 110 may be going uniformly forward or backward, jumping forward orbackward or stopped.

Using only this input of minimum data 100, the present inventor will nowproceed to teach the method steps for deriving information such as 300,310 and 320 shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, with the understandingthat these figures depict exemplary, rather than limiting, statistics,performance data and otherwise game related information.

Referring next to FIG. 3, there is depicted the end of a hockey stick 4and various hockey pucks 3 a through 3 k representing two basicpuck/player interactions, specifically “gaining control” and“relinquishing” control. (Again, as previously implied, at any point inthis specification, the word “puck” is universally replaceable andequivalent to “game object” and therefore the present teachings are inno way limited to ice hockey or other puck based sports.) Furthermore,FIG. 3 along with all other figures showing sport specific ice hockeyimagery is exemplary and although most other sports are played without astick the stick itself is merely an extension of the player's body.Therefore FIG. 3 is easily recast to other sports by replacing thedepiction of a stick with that of a player or indeed any other piece ofequipment that a given sport might require the player to use whenmanipulating the game object. What is important is that in general theplayer directly, or through the use of allowed equipment such as astick, may “gain control” and subsequently “relinquish control” of thegame object. For ice hockey, specific examples of gaining control are:

-   -   winning a face-off (contested situation) 3 a, usually associated        with a “time-in”;    -   picking up an uncontested or loose puck 3 b, typically after        situations referred to in ice hockey as a clear, dump or        rebound;    -   receiving a pass from teammate 3 c;    -   challenging another player and then subsequently taking-away 3 d        the puck, and    -   picking up an uncontested puck on a give-away 3 d from an        opposing player, typically after situations where the opposing        player has not gained some alternative benefit such as a clear,        dump or attempted shot.

Also for ice hockey and still referring to FIG. 3, specific examples ofrelinquishing control (which implies that the player first haspossession) are:

-   -   at an official “time-out” such as the period ends/penalty 3 f,        or also any stoppage of play by the game official;    -   when the player Intentionally sends the puck to a specific area        creating a loose puck 3 g, typically a clear or dump situation;    -   when the player intentionally sends the puck towards the        opponents net as an scoring attempt 3 h;    -   when the puck travels between two players without any        interrupted possession by the opposing team in a pass to        teammate 3 i;    -   when the puck is first contested for by an opposing player and        then taken-away 3 j by that opponent or one of their teammates,        and    -   when the player unintentionally, typically without strategic        positional advantage such as in a clear or dump, gives-away 3 k        the puck to an opponent.

First, it should be noted that the each of these puck/playerinteractions cannot be uniquely differentiated without all four piecesof the minimum data set 100, namely (and in abbreviated description usedhenceforth) tracking area layout 110, dock time 122, player location andID 124 and puck location 126; regardless of the apparatus or methods forobtaining the data set 100. Furthermore, implied in FIG. 3 and nowreferring to FIG. 4a , the detailed puck/player interactions 3 a through3 k in general form a continuous possession flow 200 comprising onlythree discreet event types: gain control 210, exchange control 200 andrelinquish control 230. Within these three event types that comprisepossession flow 200, there are herein defined 14 standard events for thesport if ice hockey, the translation of which to other sports will beobvious to those skilled in the art of both sports rules and softwaresystems.

Still referring to FIG. 4a , in order to gain control 210 of puck 3, ateam must win a face-off 3 a, take away 3 d the puck from the opponent,pick up a giveaway 3 e committed by the opponent or pick up a loose puck3 b. Within these four events, winning the face-off 3 a and taking awaythe puck 3 d involve a point where at least two opposing players will becontending for the same puck 3. One of the two will come away with thepuck 3 at which time the puck is in their control, or possession.Therefore, in order to fundamentally detect events 3 a and 3 d anautomatic system must be able to determine the puck 3 states of “inpossession,” followed by “under contention” and then back to “inpossession,” where the possession switches between opposing teams. Theother two gain control 210 events, namely a give-away 3 e and a loosepuck 3 b recovery, include puck state transitions from “in possession”to “free” and then back to “in possession,” where again, the possessionswitches from the opponent to the team. (Note that the loose puck 3 brecovery must be proceeded by a puck “in possession” of the opponent,otherwise it would be classified as one of the exchange control withinTeam 220 events.)

Still referring to FIG. 4a , in order to exchange control within team220, one team's player may clear the puck 3 out of their defensive zoneafter which it is then first recovered by a teammate, thus creating aclear/pick up event 3 e-1. Similarly, when approaching the attack zone ateam's player may dump the puck 3 followed directly by a teammate firstpicking up the puck 3, thus creating a dump/pick up event 3 e-2. Whennot specifically related to the defensive-to-neutral zone clear or aneutral-to-attack zone dump, any time a team's player sends the puck 3into an open area followed directly by a teammate first picking up thepuck 3, this is an area pass/pick up event 3 e-3. A drop pass/pick upevent 3 e-4 is created when a skating player simply leaves the puck 3and skates on by so that a trailing teammate may then first pick up thepuck 3. And finally, a team's player may directly pass the puck to ateammate who then catches the puck and continues team possession, thuscreating a pass/catch event 3 e-5. All of these events 3 e-1, 3 e-2, 3e-3, 3 e-4 and 3 e-5 share a common pattern of puck states; namely“in-possession” followed by “free” returning to “in-possession,” wherethe possession states are for the same team.

Still referring to FIG. 4a , a team may relinquish control 230 by any ofthe following events: the period ends 3 f, the opposing team takes-away3 i the puck, a team's player gives-away 3 k the puck, or a team'splayer makes a scoring attempt 3 h. Control may also be relinquish whena team's player clears or dumps 3 g the puck but it is then not firstpicked up by the same team. Similar to gaining control 210, detectingtake-aways 3i requires sensing a puck's transition from states of “inpossession,” to “under contention” followed by “in possession,” wherethe possession if assigned to different teams. The events of give-away 3k and clear or dump 3 g follow the puck states of “in possession” to“free” and back to “in possession,” where possession changes betweenteams. The event of period ends is unique in that it only has twostates, namely “in possession” followed by “time-out.” Of course it ispossible to go from the puck states of “free” or “under contention”directly to “time-out” as well. The scoring attempt 3 h is a specialcase that starts “in possession” and then moves to “free” without anyimplications as to what state might be next, i.e. “under contention,”“in possession” of either team or “time-out.”

In reference to FIG. 4a , the present invention illustrates thecontinuously evolving states of the puck (game object,) which from itsperspective may be: “free,” “under contention,” “in possession,” or in“time-out.” As will be shown, especially in reference to FIG. 8 and FIG.9, all that is necessary and sufficient to detect these transitions isthe minimum data 100, namely:

-   -   1. pre-knowledge of the layout of the playing field, team bench        and penalty areas, data 110;    -   2. continuous knowledge of the time on the official game dock,        data 122;    -   3. continuous knowledge of each player's location and ID, data        124 and    -   4. continuous knowledge of the game object's location, data 126.

Furthermore, as will be taught in detailed method steps in FIG. 9, allof the events 3 a, 3 d, 3 e, 3 b, 3 e-5, 3 f, 3 i and 3 k arefundamentally identical in the detection algorithm, only requiringdifferentiation based upon initial and ending player identities (i.e.teams) and initial and ending clock states, i.e. “time-in” and“time-out.” For the determination of events 3 e-1, 3 e-2, 3 e-3, 3 h and3 g the method steps must include an determination of where the puck 3is on ice sheet 2 with respect to predefined areas (as will be discussedin more detail with regard to FIG. 10, FIG. 11 and FIG. 12,) at both theinitial “in possession” state as typically the end of the “free” state.

Referring next to FIG. 4b , the possession flow events of gainingcontrol 210, exchanging control 220 and relinquishing control 230 arecrossed indexed with the clock, player and puck states that must bedetected for each event 3 a through 3 g. Specifically, the necessaryclock states 150 are “time is in” 151 and “time is out” 152. The time-instate 151 can be determined by:

-   -   1. Monitoring the least significant digit of the clock time 12-1        (see FIG. 5f ) found in min data 122 to determine if this digit        is sequencing both at the correct update rate and numerical        order.        The time-out state 152 can be determined by:    -   1. Detecting when the least significant digit of the clock time        12-1 fails to update within the allotted time (preferably        measured by counting system cycles) or in the proper numerical        order. It is noted that the system cycles proceed continuously        and independently of the clock, preferably at a rate at least        double that of the least significant digit and provide        synchronization for continuously changing data 120, as will be        understood by those skilled in the art or real-time data        collection.    -   2. On occasion, it becomes necessary to adjust the time on the        game clock. There are only two adjustments, namely adding time        back onto the clock or taking it off the clock. In either case,        the clock is always stopped first and therefore will be in the        detected state of “time-out” 152 when the adjustment is        attempted. This simplest solution is to always adjust the clock        by directly entering the new desired time, rather than by        sequencing up or down. Using this solution, at least one        significant digit will be jumping to a numeral that is out of        order, therefore easily indicating the adjustment to the present        invention which will then adjust it's captured database        accordingly by repairing the past stream of min data 100 and        determined events, at least 3 i through 3 g. However, the        present invention will also be able to detect running off time        on the clock by also determining the location of the referee and        the on-ice players when the least significant digit changes from        not-updating to updating. Specifically, in ice-hockey (and at        least basketball) the formation of players at any time-out to        time-in transition at least includes a referee with the puck who        is surrounded by two opposing players. Furthermore, in virtually        all sports, there is typically an area on the playing field        where each player is either restricted too, or chooses to        normally align, just prior to the time-out to time-in        transition. Therefore, by including predefined standard        formations 114 (discussed in reference to FIG. 7) to the minimum        data set 100, the present inventor also teaches detecting        running time off the clock, which is really still a time-out 151        state. (Note that while previously not mentioned, it is assumed        that the tracking data collection apparatus and methods used to        provide minimum data 100 will include tracking the location of        the referees and game officials.)

Referring still to FIG. 4b , there are also shown puck movement states160. Specifically, the necessary states 160 are “free” 161, “undercontention” 162, “in possession of home team” 163 and “in possession ofaway team” 164. While the determination of these states has already beendiscussed in general, they will be covered in detail with reference toFIG. 6b , FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. Therefore, it is here simply stated thateach of these puck states 160 sufficiently determinable using only asingle calculation as follows:

-   -   1. Instantaneous puck-to-player distance: this is a measure of        the distance R between each player n, with current location (Xn,        Yn), and the puck, with a current location (Xp, Yp). This        calculation is performed using the well-known Distance Formula        as follows:

R=Sqrt[(Xn−Xp)2+(Yn−Yp)2]

As will be further taught in the ensuing specification, the puck will beassigned a “free” state 161 as soon as all players are at a distance Rthat exceeds the minimum threshold used to indicate how close a playermust be to the puck 3 in order to be able to gain control. Essentially,if no players are in reach of the puck, then the puck 3 must be “free”161. As will also be further taught, if the puck is solely within thereach (i.e. R<min) of one player for some minimum duration threshold,than it will be assigned the “in possession” state 163 or 164. Bychecking the player's ID, state 163 vs. 164 may be differentiated. Andfinally, as will also be subsequently taught, if the puck 3 is currently“free” 161 and two or more player's come within reach of it (i.e. R<min)before any one player exceeds the minimum duration threshold, then thepuck will be assigned the “under contention” state 162. While notnecessary for determining at least statistics 300 and most of statistics310 and 320, the present inventor teaches the determination of a newpuck state “under challenge” 165 (not shown in FIG. 4b ). This state 165is optionally set when the puck 3 is “in possession” of a sole playerwhen an opposing player subsequently comes within reach of the puck(i.e. R<min.). This “under challenge” state 165 therefore indicates thatone player first has control/possession where “under contention” state162 would then indicate that neither player first hadcontrol/possession.

Referring still to FIG. 4b , there are shown puck zone locations 170including defensive zone 171, neutral zone 172 and attack zone 173. Bycontinually keeping tracking of the puck zone locations 170, especiallyat each puck state 160 transition, the exchange control events 220including 3 e-1, 3 e-2 and 3 e-3 as well as the relinquish controlevents 230 including 3 h and 3 g may be sufficiently differentiated.Specifically:

-   -   the clear/pickup event 3 e-1 starts with a team “in possession”        163 in their defensive zone 171, followed by a “free” puck 161,        followed by the same team “in possession” 163 in the neutral 172        or attack zones 173. This same method holds for relinquishing        clear event 3 h except that team possession necessarily changes;    -   the dump/pickup event 3 e-2 starts with a team “in possession”        163 in their neutral zone 172, followed by a “free” puck 161,        followed by same the same team “in possession” 163 in the attack        zone 173. This same method holds for relinquishing dump event 3        h except that team possession necessarily changes, and    -   there are several area pass/pick up event 3 e-3 from-to zone        possibilities as depicted in FIG. 4b . In particular any from-to        locations staying in the same zone or going “backwards” from the        attack zone 173 to the neutral zone 172, or from the neutral        zone 172 to the defensive zone 171.

And finally, still referring to FIG. 4b , there are shown puck headingdirections 180 including teammate not directly behind player 181,teammate directly behind player 182, opponent 183, open ice 184 andopponent's goal 185. Using this additional information, the followingadditional events can be differentiated:

-   -   drop pass/pick up 3 e-4 is towards a teammate directly behind        the player 182 last in possession 163;    -   pass/catch 3 e-5 is towards a teammate not directly behind the        player 182 last in possession 163, and    -   scoring attempt 3 h is towards the opponent's goal 185.

Referring next to FIG. 5a , there is shown the preferred system fordetermining player and game object tracking information as firstdisclosed by the present inventor in referenced U.S. Pat. No. 6,576,116B1 entitled Multiple Object Tracking System. The figure itself was alsorepeated in its entirety in referenced U.S. application Ser. No.05/013,132 entitled Automatic Event Videoing, Tracking and ContentGeneration System (see FIG. 3 of this referenced application.) FIG. 5 adepicts an overhead tracking system 400 comprising a matrix of trackingcameras 40 maintaining an overlapping and substantially parallel view ofthe predefined playing area such as ice sheet 2. As players 10 moveabout with stick 4 on ice sheet 2, they will also interact with the gameobject, in this example puck 3. Using its view 40-v, each trackingcamera 40 tracks the movement of any and all players 10, equipment 4 andpuck 3 providing at least two dimensional coordinates in any acceptableformat such as X, Y rectangular notation. If the tracking system 400includes multiple layers as taught in the referenced applicationsespecially including U.S. Ser. No. 05/013,132 then it is possible to adda third dimension of tracking, i.e. Z for height, as will be wellunderstood by those familiar in the art of three dimensional machinevision. Using the tracked two dimensional locations of each player 10,stick 4 and puck 3, the tracking system 400 may also automatically pan,tilt and zoom automatic filming cameras 51 a, 51 b, 51 c and 51 d inorder to record desired game action. The X, Y two dimensional trackinginformation determined for each player 10, stick 4 and puck 3 by thispreferred tracking system is sufficient to serve as continuouslychanging player centroid data 124 and game object centroid data 126 asdiscussed in FIG. 2. As also taught in the same prior applications,player 10 may have affixed for example to their helmet 9a uniquelyencoded marker such as helmet sticker 9 a or 9 b (discussed in moredetail in FIG. 5b and FIG. 5 c respectively) that allows the trackingsystem 400 to further uniquely identify each player 10.

Using these stickers 9 a or 9 b, or some similar equivalent, playercentroid data 124 therefore also includes identity along with X, Ylocation information.

While tracking system 400 is the present inventor's preferred trackingsystem for indoor sports, there are other systems suggested by otherinventors as mentioned in the referenced applications and the backgroundto the present invention that are capable of determining this sametracking information sufficient to serve as player data 124 and gameobject data 126. The present inventor is at least aware that the systemprovided by Trakus, which employs RF transmitters in the player's 10helmet 9, has already been implemented and works to provide at leastcontinuous X, Y location and identity. Trakus has been assigned U.S.Pat. No. 6,204,813 B1 entitled Local Area Multiple Object TrackingSystem by Wadell et al, covering this technology. The present inventoris also aware that in U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,698 entitled ElectromagneticTransmitting Hockey Puck by Honey et al. teaches a method of trackingthe three dimensional location of a puck 3 that has been implemented asa working product, euphemistically dubbed “the Fox puck” and assigned toFox Sports Broadcasting.

With respect to the teachings of the present invention, these systemsfrom both Trakus and Fox Sports are themselves sufficient to supplycontinuously changing player location and identity data 124 and gameobject data 126, and may be used rather than the present inventorspreferred embodiment of the overhead tracking system 400. The source ofthe data sets 124 and 126 is therefore immaterial to the novelty of thepresent invention. What is important is the understanding that eachsystem, such as that provided by Trakus that provides only player data124, or such as that provided by Fox Sports that provides only gameobject data 126, are by themselves insufficient to fully support thecreation of the higher levels statistics and performance measurementstaught herein. At the very least, as first discussed in FIG. 2, bothdata sets 124 and 126 must be obtained as well as current “time-in” vs.“time-out” game data 122. Neither the Trakus nor the Fox Sports patentsteach of a method for gathering game data 122, nor do they discuss themethod steps for determining game object possession by playersnecessarily requiring all data 122, 124, 126. It should be further notedthat neither the Trakus nor Fox Sports systems has been accepted by themarketplace in large part because of their lack of utility in regards totheir narrowly restricted datasets.

Referring next to FIG. 5b , there is shown the preferred embodiment of ahelmet sticker 9 a to be affixed to helmet 9 being worn by player 10.The present inventor first taught this specific sticker 9 a arrangementin referenced U.S. application Ser. No. 05/013,132 entitled AutomaticEvent Videoing, Tracking and Content Generation System (see FIG. 6f ofthis referenced application.) The present inventor has successfullyimplemented a tracking algorithm to dynamically follow and decodesticker design 9 a along with puck 3 using a single tracking camera 40.Since the sticker design itself is not material to the teachings of thepresent invention, but rather is used as an example of a preferredmethod for determining player identity using machine vision, theremainder of FIG. 5b will not be discussed in detail as it is in U.S.application Ser. No. 05/013,132.

Referring next to FIG. 5c , there is shown for the first time by thepresent inventor an alternative helmet sticker 9 b. Similar to sticker 9a, sticker 9 b uses circular shapes 9 b-c 1, 9 b-c 2 and 9 b-c 3 alongrectangular background 9 b-b to provide four separate color or monotoneintensity variations. As will be understood by those skilled in the artof machine vision, if each shape 9 b-c 1, 9 b-c 2, 9 b-c 3 and 9 b-beach took on one of only three unique values in contrast to each other,than 3⁴=81 unique combinations could be represented. Using four uniquevalues would provide 256 combinations thus allowing each sticker touniquely and directly encode each player 10's jersey number from 1 to99. However, in these respects sticker 9 b is essentially the same assticker 9 a.

The advantages of sticker 9 b are the use of the various sized circles 9b-c 1 within 9 b-c 2 that are at fixed and pre-known dimensions of 2×and 4× as shown. Furthermore, circle 9 b-c 3 is also 2× in size but only1× distance away from larger circle 9 b-c 2. This arrangement providestwo major opportunities. First, it provides a more distinctconfiguration for determining player helmet 10 orientation becausecircles 9 b-c 1, 9 b-c 2 and 9 b-c 3 act to roughly form a larger arrowtype shape pointing forward in the direction of circle 9 b-c 3. Second,the shapes themselves provide for a greater ability to be measured intheir size by tracking camera 40's image analysis. Hence, as player 10raises and lowers his helmet 9, it is most likely that larger circle 9b-c 1 will stay in some sort of view and that the resulting number ofpixels detected to be within 9 b-c 1 will give an approximation of thedistance of sticker 9 b from tracking camera 40, as will be understoodby those skilled in the art.

Hence, using sticker 9 b, overhead tracking system 400 could determineplayer 10 helmet 9 height with only a single layer of tracking cameras40 as taught in the prior applications (thus saving system costs.) Thehigher the resolution of these cameras 40 per the same imaging area40-v, the more accurate this technique will be—again, as will beunderstood by those familiar with imaging algorithms. Using the changingpixel size of at least circle 9 b-c 1 along with the detected presenceor not of circle 9 b-c 3, the overhead tracking system will be able toindicate if a player is bending forward and therefore pointing theirhead down versus standing up straight. While this information is notnecessary for determining the statistics and performance measurements asdescribed in the present invention, it does offer additional value incombination with all other necessary data.

Referring next to FIG. 5d there is shown a top view of the concept firsttaught by the present invention in U.S. application Ser. No. 05/013,132entitled Automatic Event Videoing, Tracking and Content GenerationSystem (see FIG. 14 of this referenced application.) While not anidentical depiction, FIG. 5d shows that any number of automaticallycontrolled filming cameras, such as 51 a, 51 b, 51 c and 51 d, can bedirected based upon overhead tracking system 400 data to periodicallycapture images of any given player 10, preferably in open space on icesheet 2, in order to capture a zoomed in image of player 10's jersey.

As taught in the prior application and as will be understood by thoseskilled in the art of image analysis and pattern matching, the uniqueaspects of the jersey number will be sufficient to provide playeridentification. As was taught in the referenced applications, it is notnecessary to continuously identify each player 10 since once identifiedby such a technique, they can be followed by the overhead system 400without ambiguity, even as players 10 begin to crowd together. And, inthose cases where two or more players 10 merge from the overhead view tosuch an extent that their identity needs to be confirmed, as these sameplayers ultimately separate cameras such as 51 a through 51 d can bedirected to recapture jersey number images for identification.Furthermore, if only two players are in question and their identitieswhere known prior to bunching up, than it is only necessary tore-identify one of the two since the other's identity may then be setbased upon this prior knowledge. As will be understood by those skilledin the art of image analysis, pattern matching is greatly aided by thepre-knowledge of which actual jersey numbers are on the team (ratherthan all possible,) which jersey numbers are now detected on the ice (asub-set of all team numbers,) and which two or more players have bunchedtogether (a further sub-set)—all of which favorable limits the patternmatching possibilities and have been taught by the present inventor.

Referring next to FIG. 5e , there is shown a portion of the drawing(FIG. 14) from U.S. application Ser. No. 05/013,132. This figure isprovided as further illustration of a preferred alternative to usinghelmet stickers 9 a or 9 b, which are themselves preferred by thepresent inventors over active transmitters such as used by Trakus. Asdiscussed in the prior referenced applications, by using machine vision,rather than RF tracking, additional valuable data, i.e. the video itselfis gathered. Furthermore, machine vision techniques provide enoughinformation to help determine player 10's orientation, and not simplytwo or even three dimension location of one point on their body plusidentification. As previously mentioned, and as will be discussed inrespect to upcoming FIG. 7, player 10's current orientation data 128 canadd very useful data for performance analysis. At the very least, it candistinguish a player skating forward versus backward, which the Trakusapproach cannot do.

In practice, the present inventors have found that helmet stickers canbe purchased for less than $0.10 per player and are therefore easilyadded to the helmet 9 and then discarded. However, if it is desirable atthe more competitive levels to have no markings whatsoever, then usingthe jersey matching approach depicted in FIGS. 5d and 5e becomes moreadvantageous. It should be noted that the present inventors referencedteachings are not limited to helmet stickers such as 9 a and 9 b formarkers. For instance, any mark such as one placed on the shoulderstraps of a basketball player's jersey would suffice to support theteachings of a uniquely encoded marker on an upper facing surface of theplayer 10 such that it is consistently viewable by tracking cameras 40.

Referring next to FIG. 6a , there is shown a summarization of the videoimage analysis teachings of the referenced patents, stating with U.S.Pat. No. 6,567,116 B1, entitled Multiple Object Tracking System.Tracking cameras 40 capture some playing surface 2 area such as 20′×20′.As has been taught in the referenced applications and as will beunderstood by those skilled in the art of image analysis, within thisarea, isolated players (or multiple bunched players) form a foregroundobject that can be uniquely bounded by a minimal rectangle. Thepreferred algorithms would include the steps of image subtraction tofirst remove static background pixels followed by edge detection andenhancement to Identify the outermost boundaries of the foregroundshapes, which may then be fitted within an extraction rectangle. At thebottom of FIG. 6a there is shown an extracted image of a player labeledas “1”. In practice, this same extracted video shown as “1” is actuallyfirst available as a gradient image “2” that is used to set the boundingbox.

This process of bounding then limits the pixel area where a moredetailed process is employed in order lead to extracted and scrubbedforeground block “A” at the top left of FIG. 6a and symbolic image “B”shown at the top right. Within the process of creating “B,” the imageanalysis routines may also detect and decode any helmet sticker such as9 a or 9 b that may have been present, therefore providing identity.Note also that the process of determining “B” also creates at least theX, Y location of player 10 centroid within the camera view 40 v, whichis translatable to the entire playing surface 2, as has been taught inreferenced applications and is well understood in the art. Note thatideally player 10 is wearing a helmet sticker such as 9 a, and that thissticker once identified in the image can serve as the player 10'scentroid for location tracking. However, other techniques can be used toestimate that player 10's centroid if the jersey pattern matchingapproach of FIG. 5d and FIG. 5e is preferred. These techniques would atleast include placing a best fit oval around the pixel mass of theforeground object. This mass could be chosen as the entire foregroundobject including stick 4, arms and torso. Or this mass could be just thetorso that may be deduced by first removing all “extended” pieces of theforeground object such as the stick and arms. Or, this mass could bejust the helmet, which is at a fixed known size, shape and color andwill almost always be found within the torso (depending upon theplayer's body orientation with respect to the overhead camera 40.) Anymethod could be used to create a. bounding oval which then provides acentroid for tracking purposes.

As discussed in referenced applications, this works best when eachplayer 10 is completely isolated from all other players from the camerasviewpoint; something much more likely given an overhead view 40 v ratherthan a side view. However, even from the overhead view 40 v players willeventually bunch up. In these cases, both the prior knowledge of themoving oval shapes as they headed into the bunched up configuration,plus the pre-knowledge of the possible maximum sizes of players 10standing in mostly upright positions, leads to multiple techniques forsplitting larger foreground shapes with multiple players into estimatedminimal shapes which are then translated into a centroid where thecentroid is checked to see that it lies on its earlier detected path oftravel. Of course, using uniquely encoded markers such as helmet sticker9 a (or a mark on a player 10's shoulders) provides a near continuousmethod for determining player 10 centroids even in the situation wherethey bunch up from the overhead view 40 v. All of which has beendiscussed by the present inventor in the referenced applications.

Again, what is most important is that some reliable method is used toprovide the continuous player location and identity data 124 and gameobject data 126. From this point forward in the present teachings, it isassumed that this data is made available from some source.

Referring next to FIG. 6b , there is shown a symbolic representation ofplayer 10 as determined in process B of FIG. 6a , where the player 10'scontinuous centroid and identity data 124 was ideally created using thehelmet sticker such as 9 a or 9 b. Also shown but not necessary ishelmet oval 10 h and body oval 10 b. Together with the outer detectededges of player 10's arms, body oval 10 b forms a first inner playerbounding circle 10 mr 2. For each player 10, their exact preferred stick4 length 4 r may be known or it is easily estimated, or it may bedynamically measured. In any case, starting with either player 10centroid 124 or inner bounding circle 10 mr 2, a second outer boundingcircle 10 mr 1 is determinable as the farthest expected area ofinfluence from the player 10's current location at any given instant. Itshould be further noted, that this outer circle 10 mr 1 of possibleinfluence is further limited to some reasonable arc spanning roughly180° directly in front of player 10, which is knowable if centroid data124 is augmented with orientation information (as would be provided by ahelmet sticker such as 9 a or 9 b or similar shoulder markings and evenjersey numbers if they could be consistently identified, which is lesslikely from the side view positions when player 10 begin to bunch.)

As previously discussed in relation to FIG. 4b , simply knowing playercentroid data 124 and game object/puck centroid data 126, it is possibleto calculate the distance R between any given player 10 and the puck 3at each given data capture moment. Also as discussed, knowing thisdistance provides a simple, deterministic verses probabilistic step foranswering the question as to whether or not a given player 10 may havepossession of the puck 3. Essentially, if the puck 3 is beyond someminimum distance MinR, then the player 10 cannot possibly havepossession. If it is within MinR, then the player may or may not havepossession, but it is possible. Hence, the puck 3 state of “free” iseasily and continuously determinable using only the information ofplayer centroid data 124 and game object centroid data 126. Other thanthe “free” state, as previously mentioned it is ideal to determine withthe game object is “in possession” and “under contention” with thefurther possibility of distinguishing “under challenge” as a puck 3 thatwas first “in possession” of one player 10 and then entered the “undercontention” state with a second player 10.

Referring next to FIG. 8, (and for now skipping FIG. 7,) there isdepicted the transition of the game object/puck from the “free” state,to the “possession” state, to the “contention” state and then back tothe “possession” state. The transitions are shown as four evolvingillustrations of configurations between two players 10 Pa (away team)and Ph (home team) as well as the puck 3. In quick review, the leftmostillustration shows the puck 3 clearly out of reach of both players 10 Paand Ph and therefore in a “free” state. As show to the right of this,some time later “m seconds” later, the puck 3 is within reach of player10 Pa and has been there for a minimum necessary amount of time MinT inorder to designated that the puck 3 is now “in possession” of player 10Pa. As shown to the right of this, at some time “m+n second” later,player 10 Ph has neared player 10 Pa enough so that he is now also inreach of the puck 3, which is therefore in a “contention” state. Andfinally, to the right of this it is shown that player 10 Ph hasproceeded past player 10 Pa with the puck 3 still within his reach forthe MinT, which is therefore in his exclusive “possession.”

This simple approach to determining the puck states of “free,” “inpossession” and “under contention” are solely based on the minimumnecessary and sufficient data 100. The method steps, which are reviewedin detail with respect to upcoming FIG. 9, include determining thedistance between each player 10's centroid and the puck 3 at someperiodic and continuing rate (e.g. 30 per second) throughout thecontest. At any given instant, i.e. for each distinct measurementinterval, the state of “free” is immediately determinable and notdependent upon any other prior measurement intervals. However, as willbe understood by those familiar with sports such as ice hockey andsoccer, it is possible for an individual player 10 to push the gameobject, e.g. the puck 3 or soccer ball, ahead of themselves in theirdirection of motion. In some cases, the game object will move outside oftheir MinR but could still be considered in their “possession.”

To adjust for this action, what is taught is that by switching from theinstantaneously determined separation between each player 10 and thegame object, i.e. “R instantaneous,” to the average separation, i.e. “Raverage,” this dribble forwarding will be drawn back towards MinR andthe same methods will continue to indicate that the correct player is“in possession.” It is anticipated by the present inventor that theexact number of measurements to average together is variable based atleast upon the sport. It is further anticipated that it will be usefulto include a second larger MaxR beyond which the game object isautomatically set to the “free” state even if the “R average” does notend up exceeding MinR over the same interval of measurements. This wouldbe the case for example when a hockey player 10 might dump the puck 3forward from the neutral zone into the attack zone after which theyrecover this dump in within a short span of time by going around aslower moving defensemen 10, as will be understood by those familiar inthe sport of ice hockey. It should also be understood that by using R asthe determination for any possible puck 3 possession, side to sidemovement of the game object by a player 10 is effectively ignored.Hence, as will be understood by those familiar with ice hockey, the puckis often moved back and forth from left to right in the direction ofplayer 10 travel as they skate forward or backwards down the ice. Thisleft to right movement will tend to have little to no appreciable effecton the player 10 to puck 3 “R instantaneous” and especially “R average”distance.

With respect to the selection of the “minimum time threshold” MinT forwhich the game object, e.g. the puck 3, must stay within MinR based uponeither “R instantaneous” or “R average,” it should be noted that twoadditional pieces of information are helpful. The first is simply apreset value based upon the sport and does not need to be collectedduring the contest. This is the average rate of travel of the gameobject, e.g. the puck 3 in ice hockey vs. the ball in soccer, where thepuck 3 when free will tend to travel at a significantly faster velocity.This rate will directly dictate how quickly the game object can passthrough the max sphere of influence of a given player, where thisMaxSphere would be 2*MinR. The faster the rate of game object travel,the less time it would physically spend with reach of a player 10'sMaxSphere, thus indicating the MinT can be reduced. As will beunderstood by a careful reading of the present teachings, this rate oftravel of the game object in its “free” state is an ongoing variablethat can be automatically determined during game play based solely uponthe current centroid location of the game object data 126, within theminimum necessary and sufficient data 100. Thus, the present inventorprefers dynamically adjusting/resetting MinT at least each time the gameobject (e.g. puck 3) transitions between one state, e.g. “in possession”to “free.”

Using this method for refining the determination of “in possession,” itwill be immediately understood that a soft-pass traveling at for example26 mph will take more time to pass through the MaxSphere of any givenplayer 10 than would a hard pass traveling at 53 mph or a shot travelingat 92 mph. Furthermore, and also solely based upon min data 100, MinTcan be further dynamically adjusted by accounting for the movement ofeach player 10 (and therefore their MaxSphere) with respect to thedirection of travel of the game object. Hence, MinT is appreciablydifferent for a player 10 as he travels directly forward on a parallelpath but ahead of a teammate currently “in possession” than it would befor an opposing player 10 quickly converging on that same “inpossession” player 10, especially if the opponent is coming directly atthis “in possession” player 10 along his direction of forward travel.Thus, the opponent's MinT is dynamically reduced as he closes in on the“in possession” player 10 in a direction opposite to that player 10'stravel while the teammate is dynamically extending his MinT by travelingat least at a matching speed in the direction of the “in possession”player 10.

As can be seen by a careful reading of the present teachings, MinT isbest calculated dynamically by considering the current direction oftraveling path (trajectory) and velocity of the game object, the currentdirection of traveling path (trajectory) and velocity of each individualplayer 10 with respect to the game object, as well as that player 10'sMaxSphere. Furthermore, these calculations are best reset by each gameobject transition from at least the states of “in possession” or “undercontention” to “free” and then back again, especially because thesetransitions will have the greatest effect on the average velocity of thegame object. All of which can be done using minimum necessary andsufficient data 100.

While noting that min data 100 is sufficient to supply these ongoingcalculations, the present inventor now teaches the importance of thepreferred overhead tracking system 400 for collection player 10 locationand identity versus other methods such as the active beacon taught byTrakus. Specifically, using the overhead tracking system 40 based uponanalysis of images from cameras 40, especially using helmet stickers 9 aor 9 b or some equivalent upper body markings, it is possible todetermine each player 10's orientation along with their location. Asdiscussed in the referenced application and as will be will beunderstood by those skilled in the art of RF triangulation techniques,determining orientation from the omni-directional beacon signal isproblematic at best. Whereas, using machine vision, player 10 features,and especially affixed markers such as sticker 9 a, easily yield thisinformation.

As will be understood by those familiar with sports, the value oforientation can be significant with respect to understanding the player10's “nominal sphere” versus their “max sphere,” which is necessary lessconsidering, for example, their ability to receive or interact with agame object that is behind them versus in front of them. Hence, whilenot necessary for effective determination of the state of “inpossession,” the present inventor prefers a further enhancement topossession assignment by potentially requiring the game object to bewithin a determinable maximum arc of influence in front of player 10, asis roughly indicated in FIG. 6b as the area easily in sweep of player10's stick 4. As will be understood by those familiar with mathematics,this area of influence is a sector of the circle that is easilyapproximated using the player 10's centroid as the centerpoint, theplayer 10's stick 4 reach as the radius, and a preset number of degreesto the left and right of the player 10's forward orientation directionas the span of the arc segment. Using this further preferred by notnecessary player 10 orientation information, the present inventioneasily distinguishes between a puck 3 moving or resting behind a givenplayer 10 for more than the dynamically calculated MinT so that“possession” which might normally be credited to that player 10 mightrather be deterministically withheld.

Also in keeping with the information contained in min data 100 as wellas the teachings of MinR as a “possession boundary,” it will beunderstood by those familiar with both mathematics and sports, a furtherrefinement is possible as an override to the basic method steps alreadytaught.

Specifically, it will often be possible to detect a change in the pathof the game object as it passes through the player 10's nominal or maxspheres. Especially in the case where the player 10 in question isseparated from all other player's 10 by at least MinR, if the path oftravel of the game object is detected to have been changed in either itstrajectory or acceleration by some minimum value while in that player10's sphere, it is possible to assign the “in possession” state in lessthan MinT. For instance, in the case of ice hockey, a pass of puck 3traveling at significant velocity may be received by a teammate player10 in such as way that within three measurements it can be determinedthat the puck 3 has effectively altered its travel in the direction ofthe pass. The use of three measurements corresponds to themathematically minimum data to determine acceleration versus velocity,where velocity is calculable with two data points, the change invelocity, or acceleration requires two velocity measurements and hence aminimum of three total measurements, as will be understood by thosefamiliar with mathematics. As will also be understood, detecting achange in the trajectory of a moving object also requires a minimum ofthree measurements.

Hence, it is further taught that a change in the game object's currenttrajectory or acceleration, re-calculable each instant using the priortwo instant's measurements, may be a sufficient and ideal override forawarding possession to a given player 10. As will be understood by thosefamiliar with the sport of ice hockey and tracking systems, given thespeed of the traveling game object and the rate of measurements, it maywell be that the first of the three game object positions used tocalculate the current trajectory and acceleration may well be outside ofthe given receiving player 10's MinR. Hence, within an effective minimumof two measurements within a player 10's sphere of Influence, thepresent invention can conclusively detect the transaction of the gameobject from “free” to “in possession” based upon its change in eithertrajectory or acceleration (with the technical understanding that achange in trajectory implies a change in acceleration, at least alongthe path of current travel.) As will be appreciated by those skilled inthe understanding of object movements and mathematics, these twomeasurements represent the minimum number necessary to conclusivelydetermine possession.

It is also noted that in the case of the overhead tracking system 400,in some instances the overhead view may not conclusively locate the gameobject. This is especially true for ice hockey where the puck 3 is smalland typically travels at ground level and therefore is often underneatha player 10 and out of the view of any overhead tracking camera 40.However, in these cases the prior determined trajectory, accelerationand velocity of puck 3 as it enters any particular player 10's nominalor max sphere, along with a similar understanding of the trajectory,acceleration and velocity of that same player 10's sphere, can be usedto adequately estimate the expected location of the puck 3 if it is notinfluenced by that same player 10 as it passes through their sphere ofinfluence. This is a variation and implication of the MinT setting thatsimply indicates that if not otherwise impeded, the puck 3 would beexpected to pass through the player 10's sphere and therefore certainlybecome visible (unless it enters another player's sphere) by theoverhead system 400 within a determinable time and at determinablelocation.

Using a careful understanding of the present teachings, it can be seenthat the trajectories, velocities and acceleration of a “free” gameobject as well as all of the players 10 are determinable based a minimumof three data points and therefore may be constantly reset for each nextmeasurement once two measurements have been received, all based uponminimum data 100. Furthermore, using this deterministic information,possession of the game object can be awarded even during an instant whenit cannot be visibly or otherwise detected, especially when using atracking system such as 400. This is essentially done by “not detecting”the puck 3 on the background portion of the viewed area 40 v where itwould be expected to exist if its trajectory and velocity of travel wereunimpeded as it passes through a player 10's sphere of influence. Whilethe method steps specifically taught with respect to MinR and MinT fordetermining possession provide a potentially slower but also simplermethod for detecting the “in possession” state, it is clear that thepresent invention teaches variations of the use of the minimum necessaryand sufficient data 100 that can reduce the amount of time MinTnecessary to conclusively determine the “possession” state to a minimumof three measurements while the game object is within the player 10'ssphere of influence, or even two if the first of the three are obtainedwhen the game object is beyond the player 10's MinR. This may even betrue if the game object such as the puck 3 is not detected in thirdmeasurement, again based upon its determined trajectory and velocity.

Therefore, what is of most importance is that the present inventionteaches that the detection of the most critical game object possessionstates of “free,” and “in possession” (as well as the less criticalstates of “under contention” or “in challenge”) are deterministicallycalculable using the minimum necessary and sufficient data 100. Thisteaching for instance, demonstrates a new value to the player data 124and the game object data 126, where both data sets 124 and 126 have beenavailable to the sports marketplace as pieces but never used in thecombination taught herein. Specifically, at least in ice hockey at theprofessional levels, tracking the current player 10's location andidentity has been possible using active beacons as demonstrated byTrakus while tracking the current location of the puck 3 has beenpossible using IR signal detection as demonstrated by Fox Sports. Whatwas lacking was the novel understanding taught herein that combiningthis information along with the state of the game clock 122 would yielda much more important data set 120 leading directly to the continuousdetermination of the events 210, 220 and 230 of the game's possessionflow 200 as depicted in FIG. 4a . This possession flow 200 informationprovides significant data as shown in FIG. 4b that goes well beyond anystatistics independently calculable by only knowing player 10 or puck3's location. As herein taught, it is the ability to measure thepossession states of the game object as discussed in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9that are necessary for providing a completely objective and automatedsystem for determining the basic statistics such as shown FIG. 1 as wellas the even more comprehensive statistics shown in FIG. 13 as will bediscussed.

As will be understood by those familiar with the various sports, thisconcept of measuring the possession state of the game object remains thesame for all sports including but not limited to ice hockey, soccer,basketball, football and baseball. Applying the techniques herein taughtfor ice hockey to other sports will be obvious to those skilled in thearts of object tracking and the various sports.

Referring next to FIG. 9, the present inventor suggests one sufficientset of deterministic steps predicated solely on the minimum necessaryand sufficient data 100 for distinguishing the game object, for instancepuck 3's states of “free,” “in possession” and “under contention” (aswell as the less critical “in challenge” discussed but not depicted.)The flowchart shown in FIG. 9 contains the relevant textual descriptionfor this method and is fully consistent with the descriptions providedearlier in relation to FIG. 4a and FIG. 4b . The teachings of FIG. 9 arealso consistent with the discussion of FIG. 6b and FIG. 8, all of whichwill be understood to those familiar with object tracking and sports.

Returning now and in reference to FIG. 7, there is depicted minimumnecessary and sufficient data plus extended data A 102. To the fixed andpre-known data of minimum necessary and sufficient data 100 there hasbeen added predefined size of helmet, size of body, size of stick, etc.112 representing additional pre-knowable information that will at leastenhance the effectiveness of image analysis accompanying for instancethe steps depicted in FIG. 6a , as will be understood by those skilledin the art of machine vision. Also added to data set 100 to form dataset 110 is predefined standard formations 114 that can be used to atleast help detect plays during typical “line-up” times that often takeplace just before the game officials set the game clock to time-in. Thisinformation is also anticipated to be useful during game play,especially with sequential and distinct play by play sports such asAmerican football, where the initial position of the players is followedby scripted paths that should ideally match pre-set and practiced plays,included in the scope of standard formations 114.

Added to continuously changing data 120 is the current x, y orientationof each player 10's helmet 9 with respect to the predefined trackingarea 2. As has been discussed and will be discussed in relation toupcoming figures, knowing the orientation of the player can provide veryuseful information. While the orientation of the player's head is notidentical to the orientation of their body, it can both be used as anapproximation and it can define at least important information regardingthe player 10's current field-of-view, which conversely cannot berevealed simply by knowing their body's orientation. However, as will beunderstood by those skilled in the art of machine vision and imageanalysis, it is possible, especially with the added use of helmetstickers such as 9 a or 9 b, or with the alternate use of uniquemarkings on the upper shoulders to either side of the head, to also oronly detect the player 10's body's orientation. If not using marks, thanproven techniques include shape analysis for which at least thepre-known and defined sizes of the helmet 9 (or bare head,) the size ofthe body as included in data 114 become very helpful.

And lastly in reference to FIG. 7 and extended dataset 110 there isshown the inclusion of the current location and orientation of eachplayer 10's stick 4 as data 130. This information is only relevant forsports such as ice hockey, lacrosse and in some limited sense baseball.However, for especially ice hockey, knowing the current location andorientation of stick 4 provides added means for refining the moment ofpossession and/or game object trajectory deflection as well as the newstatistical information of stick positioning such tracking if it iscurrently on the ice, if it is waiving back and forth through anopponent's passing lane, etc.

Referring next to FIG. 10, there is shown the present inventorspreferred method for graphically relating portions of the detailedinformation inherently contained within minimum data 100 and especiallywithin parsed datasets described in FIG. 1, FIG. 3, FIG. 4a , FIG. 4b ,FIG. 13 and FIG. 14. Specifically for ice hockey, at least some sectionsof the playing area 2 such as defensive zone 2 dz and offensive zone 2az of ice surface 2 may be broken into standard sub areas, or cells,defined for instance by scoring web 2 sw. The present inventoranticipates that by using the scoring web 2 w (or any equivalent subdivision arrangement) as portrayed in FIG. 10 for relating detailedtextual information in a more readily consumable visual configuration,it will be easier for the consumer of this data to for instancerecognize important patterns and value within at least the data sets100, 200, 300, where data set 200 is further recognized as data 150through 185 shown in FIG. 4b . This same reasoning extends to the typesof summary data shown in upcoming FIG. 13 and FIG. 14.

As the amount of statistical information conforming to the teachings ofthe present inventions are collected for any given sport and any givenor all possible competition levels, the use of concepts such as thescoring web 2 sw provide am effective means for quick comparison betweenindividual games, teams and players over time. This use of this web 2 swis further discussed below with respect to FIG. 11.

Now referring to FIG. 11, an in the context of ice hockey, a single zonesuch as defensive zone 2 dz might first be extended to include trencharea 2 dtz-t forming threat zone 2 dtz covered by scoring web 2 sw.Scoring web 2 sw further comprises individual cells formed by theoverlap of concentric circles 1 through 7 preferably centered around andemanating from goal area 5 h, along with the sections A through Iradiating orthogonal to these circles but also emanating from goal area5 h. Also depicted is the concept of classifying some subset of thesecells as the “primary scoring area” 2 psa, already familiar in conceptat least to the sport of ice hockey. Given such a scoring web 2 sw, itis easily understandable by those familiar with data representation,that important statistical information can be displayed within web 2 swthus revealing patterns for all intensive purposes not otherwiserecognizable by the human consumer. For instance, shots taken and goalsscored are a most obvious statistic where cell locations add relevantmeaning. Using this approach, it is likely that the chances of scoringon any individual team, goalie-defensive pairing, and goalie himselfwill tend to differentiate. It is most certain that the scoring web 2 swrevealed shot-to-goal data across teams competing at different levels ofplay will be significantly different. Hence, the effective scoring cellsfor a younger less experienced level of competition will be muchnarrower that that of a higher level. This will reveal itself as areduction in the effective primary scoring area 2 psa, thus supportingthe idea of an automatic determination of the actual PSA for a teamversus the sport-wide accepted norm. The present inventor anticipatesthat other statistics novel to the present invention will also befurther enhanced by their presentation via the scoring web 2 sw: onesuch example being possession time by both team and player. By showingtime of possession recast as area of possession with duration timewithin the scoring cells, coaches and analysts can use the informationto judge individual player and team effectiveness at controlling themore valuable playing areas leading to extending threats and ultimatelyscoring. Conversely, this information graphically reveals theeffectiveness of various defensive strategies and team play that areinherently designed to limit possession area and time to those cells ofthe lowest scoring potential. As will be understood by those skilled inthe art of both sports and data representation, many conceivablecombinations of data are enhanced by their presentation within thescoring web 2 sw. Furthermore, the present inventor provides the web 2sw as depicted in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 merely as an example of concept.It is obvious that many other configurations are possible, while thepresent inventor prefers that the web be at least concentric to andemanating from the scoring area 5 h.

However, the present inventor also anticipates that in sports such asAmerican football, the scoring web might best be reversed such that itemanates and is concentric to either the quarterback or his “pocket”area where most of his offensive plays are conducted. This reversal ofperspective also implies that for American football the scoring webitself continually moves to adjust its setting to the current locationof the “pocket” on a play-by-play basis. While the scoring web wouldmove play-by-play, the statistics would all be made relative to this“pocket” based emanation point therefore being most similar to the icehockey example centered about static goal 5 h.

Also depicted in FIG. 11 are the concepts of dynamically determiningimportant alignments and pathways such as the shooting axis 10 p 1-saconnecting the current location of the puck 3, currently in possessionof an opposing player such as 10 p 1, with the center of the scoringarea 5 h. Shooting axis 10 p 1-sa is also expandable to the primaryscoring lane 10 gh-s 11 within which, for example, goaltender 10 gh mustadequately square and align himself in order to maximize his averageeffectiveness. Also portrayed is passing lane 10 p 1-p 1 that connectsthe puck 3 in possession for instance of player 10 p to that of thereasonable catching area associated with the stick 4 of player 10 p 2.This lane is the most likely area of successful transfer of the puck 3between teammates 10 p 1 and 10 p 2 and represents a means of creating asecondary scoring lane 10 gh-s 12 with perhaps a higher scoringpotential mostly dependent upon goalie 10 gh's ability to transfer hisposition to the new lane 10 gh-s 12 within the time the puck transfer'sbetween players 10 p 1 and 10 p 2.

What is important is that all of this information is only determinableby understanding at least the states of puck 3 (game object) “free” and“possession,” which themselves rely solely upon minimum data 100—all astaught herein. Furthermore, the present inventor's claims to noveltywith respect to the concept of a scoring web 2 sw at least extend to anyforms of data determinable based upon the combination of data sets 100,200 and 300 as well as summary information depicted in FIG. 1, FIG. 13and FIG. 14. Other variations of data measurements for ice hockey beyondthose herein described are possible, and this is certainly true forsports other than ice hockey which are not being used as representativeexamples. Regardless of the sport or the specific statistic orperformance measurements, if it has any relation to playing area then itmay also benefit by the differentiation and graphical representationwithin the scoring web 2 sw without departing from the teachings herein.

Referring next to FIG. 12, the concept of the scoring web 2 sw isextended to cover the goal scoring area that is unique to wide openinggoal net 5 sports such as ice hockey and soccer. The scoring target ofgoal net 5 is typically thought of as having specific regions of higherscoring possibilities fundamentally related to the correct positioningof the goaltender 10 gh. These areas are referred to as “holes” 1through 5 and are correspondingly depicted as shaded areas that areeasily contained and approximated by circles 5-1 through 5-5. While thepresent inventor prefers using overhead tracking system 400 to determinethe three dimensional location and trajectory of puck 3, other systemssuch as the system from Fox Sports also provide this information. Usingthe information in combination with the known identity and location ofthe player 10 taking any given shot, along with the inherentunderstanding that this play is “in possession” as herein taught, it ispossible to create shot and goal statistics that are much morecomprehensive than the existing practices. Furthermore, as taught withrespect to the scoring web 2 ws, this data has a location component thatmakes it ideal for presentation in a vertical representation as proposedherein. While some work has been done in this area for the presentationof shot data across various sports, the present inventor extends thesepractices by the concept of forming individual sub-scoring lanesconstructed by connecting the current position of the game object, e.g.the puck 3-a 1 or 3-a 2 to any given scoring hole, such as 5-1 or5-4—thus forming an easily calculated scoring cone, as will beunderstood by those familiar with mathematics and three dimensionalobject tracking. Each scoring hole may therefore carry a measurablydifferent and objectively verified scoring chance percent based upon thescoring web 2sw cell. Therefore, each cell-scoring hole combination fora given level of competition will carry its own relative scoring chancepercent which then serves as an ideal basis for presenting variations tothe norm given specific teams, goal-defense pairings and simply goaliesthemselves.

Referring next to FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, the present inventor provides alist of anticipated statistics and measurements that are alldeterminable using the minimum necessary and sufficient data 100,especially as translated first via the determination of the states ofgame object possession, into the data sets of possession flow 200include gaining control events 210, exchanging control events 220 andrelinquishing control events 230 as will be understood by those skilledin the art of information sciences. Of these statistics, all but hits,distance traveled and team speed (when they simply relate to players andthe game object regardless of possession,) require the ability to trackthe states of puck (i.e. game object) transition at least from “free” to“in possession.”

Furthermore, if distance traveled and team speed are to also be brokeninto separate totals for “while in possession” versus “while not inpossession,” then the teachings herein are critical. While otherstatistics are certainly possible and are anticipated by the presentinventor, what is important is that most relevant statistics based uponprevailing market perceptions, such as those provided in FIG. 1, FIG. 13and FIG. 14, require the knowledge inherent in possession flow 200.

Possession flow 200 has heretofore only been determinable throughsubjective means such as having special statisticians carefully watch agiven game in order to tally this data—understandably with much lessdetail, precision and accuracy. As will be understood by those familiarwith real-time automatic data collection systems, determining this sameinformation using sensing machines offers significant additional value,typically including objective veracity as well as significantlyincreased spatial and temporal detail.

As will also be understood by those skilled in the art of objecttracking systems, information systems, and the various sports, there aresome statistics represented in FIG. 1, FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, or that canbe imaged, that do not required knowing the possession state of the gameobject. Present examples would include ice time, penalty minutes, hits,distance traveled (totals only,) team speed (totals only,) checking (avariation of hits,) line changes, short handed, power plays, defensivezone play and space control. The methods for determining some of thesestatistics, for instance penalty minutes as well as short handed andpower play durations in total and by player, could simply be to receiveofficial game data, ideally in synchronicity with all other real-timeobject tracking information, something taught by the present inventor inthe referenced applications. The formulation of others of thesestatistics are already known because they are simple calculations basedupon the current locations and movements of the players 10 or gameobject/puck 3 not in reference to possession (for instance distancetraveled, team speed and hits.) And still yet the formulation of theremaining aforementioned statistics will be obvious to those skilled inthe art. Thus, it is shown that by having available official game dataas taught by the present inventor in referenced applications incombination with the minimum necessary and sufficient data 100, it isnow possible using the methods herein taught to create the entire set ofdesirable game statistics beyond those obviously created from data 100,to now also include those dependent upon objectively determining theevents 210, 220 and 230 of possession flow 200.

To reiterate and stress earlier points made, the present invention is ofutmost importance because it teaches how to take information frommachines that currently exists to automatically combine into new typesof meta-data revolving around the concept of possession. It is importantto note again that there are already working machines and systems, suchas those from Trakus using active beacons that have already demonstratedthat the continuous player 10 location and identity may be tracked—whichis data 124. However, a careful study of the uses envisioned andpromoted by Trakus and users of its system only included the lessrelevant statistics of player speeds, distances traveled and perhapsplayer collision force measurements all of which have proven to haveminimal value to the market. Other working systems like that sold by FoxSports have demonstrated how the game object (at least a hockey puck 3)could be tracked in three dimensions (which is data 126) but were simplyemployed as a means of either creating graphic enhancements to the puck3 image within the video stream of the sports broadcast or wereanticipated to be used for automatically directing the moving ofvideoing cameras. Similar to the fate of the Trakus system, themarketplace appears to have rejected the enhancement of the puck'stravel path and the automatic movement of cameras itself provided toolittle additional value to support the use of this technology.

While other systems have been proposed and are currently the subjects ofboth research and patents, these systems tend to be focused oncollecting the same types of information already being produced by bothTrakus and Fox Sports, only with presumably more acceptable basetechnologies. However, the fundamental problem from the presentinventor's perspective is misunderstood and transcends the actual meansfor collecting each of the necessary and sufficient continuouslychanging data sets 124 and 126. What is needed and is herein taught is away of taking this voluminous and seemingly random information andparsing it through a set of rigidly determinable and repeatable stepsinto high level and useful meta-information. Doing this requires a setof methods steps such as disclosed herein by the present inventor andgoes beyond the mere collection of the datasets, as has been provendefacto since the data sets have existed in practice for some time (atleast for ice hockey) without the herein taught automatically generatedmeta-data. It is the teaching of the present inventor that what isneeded more than necessarily another way to collect data sets 124 and126, is a process by which this data can be made significantlymeaningful to support its cost of collection.

The transition to meaningful information specifically requires theincremental buildup of meta-data starting with the transition from theminimum necessary and sufficient data 100 of FIG. 2 to the possessionstates shown in FIG. 8, directly leading to the possession flow data ofFIG. 3 and FIG. 4a , all of which is combinable into the marketacceptable statistics of FIG. 1, FIG. 13 and FIG. 14. Furthermore, onceautomatically converted from its less acceptable raw form, data sets 124and 126 create information that is advantageously presentable via newgraphical compositions such as the scoring web 2 sw taught herein. Allof which the present invention enables through its disclosed methodsteps teaching the build up of information starting with the fundamentalunderstanding of game object “free” verses “in possession”—againdirectly leading to possession flow 200.

The present inventor teaches an objective and deterministic (as opposedto probabilistic best guesses) set of steps relying upon the minimum setof necessary and sufficient data 100. While various systems have beentaught to collect some portions of the necessary and sufficient datadefined in set 100, specifically player centroid and identity as well asgame object location, the present inventor is not aware of any otherinventions or systems available in the market that combine the data inset 100, let alone teach or employ the method steps herein discussed totranslate their low level voluminous data into the higher levelpertinent information of data sets 100, 200 and 300 as well as that showin FIG. 1, FIG. 13 and FIG. 14.

CONCLUSIONS AND RAMIFICATIONS

Thus the reader will see that the present invention accomplishes itsobjective of teaching the apparatus and methods for automaticallydetermining ongoing and real-time statistics and performancemeasurements at least encompassing those currently determined by humanobservation by translating the continuous input of identified player andgame object tracking information as well as official game time-in-outdata. The invention has shown specifically how these measurements arethe basis for a well defined possession flow cycle that establishes auniversally applicable standard, thus supporting the stated objectivefor having statistics and performance measurements that are comparableacross all levels of age and competitive experience within a given sportand even across one or more sports.

While the present inventor prefers to collect player location andidentity data as well as game object location data from the overheadtracking system disclosed in the referenced applications, thespecification herein clearly discloses methods that are not dependentupon this type of machine vision system, or in fact any one type oftracking system, in order to be useful. Furthermore, the presentinvention has clearly described that at least for the sport of icehockey, the minimum and necessary data sets to support the objective andautomatic creation of meaningful statistics are already present andavailable to the marketplace, albeit as separate systems not currentlybeing used in combination. Specifically, the data sets of playerlocation and identity can be achieved using the active beacon systemsold by Trakus while the puck's location can be tracked using the systemowned by Fox Sports. It should therefore be understood that the actualapparatus for collecting real-time player and game object tracking dataare immaterial to the novelty of the current invention and that anyfuture new or different apparatus for collecting this same informationfalls within the scope of the present teachings.

As will also be understood by those skilled in the arts of varioussports and information systems, while the present inventor choose todescribe and teach the herein apparatus and methods using the sport ofice hockey as an example, the present invention is not to be limited toice hockey only, but is at least also applicable to soccer, basketball,football, baseball, lacrosse, tennis, volleyball, squash, etc. What isshared in common with each of these sports is that they:

-   -   are conducted in a predefined area such that knowing the        boundaries of this area is important to determining at least the        game object's states of “free” and “in possession,” both states        of which are bounded by the physical area of play;    -   take place during a predefined sequence of time, the sequence of        which is often punctuated by breaks in game play such that        knowing when the game play time is “in” versus “out” is        important to determining at least the game object's states of        “free” and “in possession,” both states of which are bounded by        the actual time-in of play;    -   have at least two opposing players who each move about within        the playing area with respect to both the area and each other,        the continuous locations and identity of which are both        important to determining at least the game object's states of        “free” and “in possession,” both states of which are inherently        associated to the players, and    -   have one game object being contested for by the opposing        players, the continuous locations of which is important to        determining at least the game object's states of “free” and “in        possession,” both states of which are inherently associated to        these game object itself.

From this understanding it has been shown that the minimum necessary andsufficient data for determining at least the game object states of“free” and “in possession” include:

-   -   the predefined layout of the at least the playing field, thus        defining the tracking area;    -   the continuously changing data of the official game time thus        exactly defining “time-in” play versus “time-out”;    -   the continuously changing data of the current X, Y centroid        location of each player with respect to the tracking area, along        with their identity, and    -   the continuously changing data of the current X, Y centroid        location of the game object also with respect to the tracking        area.

The present invention has taught at least one set of method steps thatis readily implemented via computer processing for parsing this highlydetailed set of minimum necessary and sufficient data into the moremeaningful set of possession flow information, fundamentally reliantupon the ability to determine at least the game object's “free” versusits “in-possession” state. The present invention has shown how thesefundamental game object state transitions, which may also readilyinclude the states of “in contention” and “under challenge,” maythemselves be translated into the unique events of possession flowcovering gaining control, exchanging control and relinquishing controlof the game object by a single team (or individual in a non-team sport.)

The present invention also taught the basic method steps for determiningpossession based upon the distance between player and game object, theminimum radius surrounding the player in which the game object mustreside to possibly be in their possession, and the minimum time the gameobject must remain within the minimum radius before assignment isawarded.

In addition to this first set of method steps, advantageous variationswere taught that include using average distance over time rather thaninstantaneous distance. This variation helps to compensate for thedribbling forward effect of certain sports such as ice hockey and soccerwhere a player may remain in control while for a time they have pushedthe game object on in front of them in their direct path of travel,where it has gone beyond the minimum radius for possession. Alsodiscussed are the steps for dynamically setting the minimum time thegame object must remain in a player's sphere of influence beforepossession is assigned to that player. This dynamic calculation wastaught to be variable based upon not just the game object's velocity butalso its trajectory as well as the velocity and trajectory of the playerfor which possible possession is being considered.

The present inventor then taught how trajectory and acceleration,calculable from a minimum consideration of three data points, may beused to effectively shorten the minimum time necessary to assignpossession to a given player by essentially detecting a alteration inthe trajectory or acceleration of the game object after it enters theplayer's sphere of influence, that exceeds some minimum threshold.Furthermore, the present inventor has taught at least one of the valuesof having the additional information of player orientation, somethingthe preferred overhead tracking system accomplishes especially forindoor sports that an RF based beacon system cannot. Having thisorientation information was shown to be helpful for reducing the maximumsphere of player influence from the simplest calculation of a circle ofdistance MinR surrounding the player's centroid to a sector of this samecircle, now bounded by some reasonable arc roughly centered about theplayer's determined forward orientation. Such information helps to ruleout possession for situations where the game object might reside withinthe maximum sphere for the minimum time to assign possession but mightalso be directly behind the player and therefore reasonably not withintheir control.

The present inventor has also taught in applications that are referencedto this application how the official game time-in and time-out may beeither directly received from the console device controlling the typicalgame scoreboard or may alternatively be detected using machine vision tocontinuously analyze the scoreboard face during game play in order toparse its emitted light energy back into the digital characters theyrepresent.

Thus the reader will see that the present invention successfully teacheshow higher level and more meaningful statistics can be deterministicallyand automatically derived from continuous low level information streamsheretofore only perceived as useful for a limited set of less meaningfulstatistics such as player speed, distance travel and collision force.

From the foregoing detailed description of the present invention, itwill be apparent that the invention has a number of advantages, some ofwhich have been described herein and others of which are inherent to theinvention. Also, it will be apparent that modifications can be made tothe present invention without departing from the teachings of theinvention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is only to be limitedas necessitated by the accompanying claims.

1. A system for automatically determining the states of game objectpossession, including those of free, under contention and in possession,for sporting contests conducted within a predefined area of pre-knownlayout, comprising: a system for tracking the on going changes to theofficial game time so as to detect time-in play versus time-out of play;a system for tracking the on going locations of each player, matched totheir identity, at least within the predefined area in accordance withthe pre-known layout, a system for tracking the on going locations ofthe game object, at least within the predefined area in accordance withthe pre-known layout, a computer for receiving the time-in and time-outdata, the player location by identity data as well as the game objectlocation data, in coordination for given instants of measurement, and analgorithm operative on the computer for determining the game objectstates including free, under contention and in possession, for eachinstant of received data by measuring the distance between each playerand the game object, for comparing this distance to some minimum radiusper player beyond which the game object cannot be in their possession,for setting the state of the game object to a classification of free ifit lies outside of the minimum radius of all players, for setting thestate of the game object to a classification of under contention if inthe previous state it was free or not assigned to any one player'spossession and it now lies within the minimum radius of one or moreplayers, for setting the state of the game object to a classification ofin the possession of any player for which the game object has remainedwithin that player's minimum radius for some minimum time during whichsome other player may have been under contention but no longer is withinreach of the game object.
 2. The system of claim 1 where the system fortracking at least the on going locations of each player, matched totheir identity, and optionally the on going locations of the gameobject, uses active energy emitters placed on the player and optionallywithin or to the game object, such as but not limited to systemscurrently sold by Trakus, Inc.
 3. The system of claim 2 where the systemfor tracking the on going locations of the game object uses activeenergy emitters placed within the game object, such as but not limitedto systems currently owned by Fox Sports.
 4. The system of claim 1 wherethe system for tracking both the on going locations of each player,matched to their identity, as well as the on going locations of the gameobject uses a grid of two or more object tracking cameras placedsubstantially overhead of the playing area.
 5. The system of claim 1where the algorithm operative on the computer for determining the statesof game object possession, alternatively sets the state of the gameobject to a classification of in the possession of any player if eitherthe game object's trajectory or it's acceleration has been detected tohave been altered by at least some minimum amount after it enters theminimum radius of that player, where the detected change optionallyrelies upon a predicted game object location that is not achieved inorder to assume that the trajectory or acceleration has been altered bythat player, and where this detected change is also outside of theminimum radius of all other players.
 6. The system of claim 1 where thedistance between each player and the game object that is used to compareto that player's minimum radius is either based upon a singlemeasurement for a given instant, or is alternatively based upon anaverage of this same measurement over at least two or more instants. 7.The system of claim 1 where the minimum time used to determine if thegame object is now in the state of possession is dynamically adjustedbased upon any combination of the trajectory or velocity of the gameobject as well as the trajectory or velocity of the player for whichpossession is being considered.
 8. The system of claim 1 where thesystem for tracking the on going locations of each player, matched totheir identity, also determine the orientation of each player.
 9. Thesystem of claim 8 where the area within the circle defined by theminimum radius within which a player is considered to be eitherpotentially in possession of the game object, or to be putting the gameobject under contention, is further constricted based upon the detectedorientation of the player to be some reduced sector of the circle,generally covering the area in the forward direction of that player'sorientation.
 10. A method for automatically determining the states ofgame object possession including the states of free, under contentionand in possession, for sporting contests conducted within a predefinedarea of pre-known layout, using information systems that providecontinuous data concerning game time-in versus time out, concerningplayer locations matched to identity, and concerning game objectlocations, comprising the steps of: bounding a player's area ofpotential influence to be some distance from their current location atleast within their forwardly accessible area of movement, where theplayer remains within the pre-known playing area; determining for anygiven instant that the game object is free if it lies outside of allplayers' areas of influence during game time-in; determining for anygiven instant that the game object is under contention if it lies withinat least one player's area of influence for the current moment, but hasnot been within this area for more than some consecutive minimum timeduring game time-in, and determining for any given instant that the gameobject is in possession of a player if it has remained within their areaof influence for at least some minimum time during game time-in while itdoes not also at this moment lie within another player's area ofinfluence.
 11. The method of claim 10 where the step for determiningthat the game object is in possession of a player alternately assignspossession to any player if either the game object's trajectory or it'sacceleration is detected to have been altered by at least some minimumamount after it enters the area of influence of that player, where thedetected change optionally relies upon a predicted game object locationthat is not achieved in order to assume that the trajectory oracceleration has been altered by that player, and where this detectedchange is also outside of the area of influence of all other players.12. The method of claim 10 where the step for determining for any giveninstant that the game object is free uses either a instantaneousmeasurement of distance between each player and the game object as thebasis for this comparison or it uses an average of two or more distancemeasurements over two or more instants, likewise between the same playerand the game object.
 13. The method of claim 10 where the step ofdetermining game object contention as well as the step of determininggame object possession both use some minimum time that is dynamicallyadjusted based upon any combination of the trajectory or velocity of thegame object as well as the trajectory or velocity of the player underconsideration.
 14. The method of claim 10 where system that providescontinuous data concerning player locations matched to their identityfurther provides each player's orientation, comprising the additionalstep of: constricting a player's area of potential influence to be asector of the circle centered about the player's location that isaligned to match the player's orientation.
 15. A method forautomatically determining the states of possession flow, as well as thestatistics combinable from these determinations, for team sportsconducted within a predefined area of pre-known layout, including anddifferentiating between gaining control, exchanging control andrelinquishing control, using any one or more information systems thatprovide continuous data concerning game time-in versus time-out,concerning player locations matched to identity, and concerning gameobject locations, comprising the steps of: using the game time data toset game clock states to be either time-in or time-out; combining thecurrent location of each player matched to their identity with thecurrent location of the game object and the clock states, in order toset game object movement states to be at least: free, in possession ofthe home team, in possession of the away team, or optionally undercontention between both teams; optionally using the location of the gameobject along with the pre-known layout of the playing area to uniquelyassign game object starting and ending path states to be either of twoor more specific playing areas or zones. optionally using the locationof the game object to determine its path of travel with respect to bothhome team and away team players as well as the playing area andspecifically those areas defined to be enterable by the game object forthe scoring of game points, in order to set game object heading statesto be towards a teammate, towards an opponent, towards an open area ortowards the home team or away team scoring area, and using the uniquecombinations of at least the clock states and game object movementstates, as well as optionally either or both the game object startingand ending area states and the heading states to detect over time theconditions of a team gaining control, exchanging control, andrelinquishing control.
 16. The method of claim 15 where the step ofsetting the game object movement states further comprises the steps of:bounding a player's area of potential influence to be some distance fromtheir current location at least within their forwardly accessible areaof movement, where the player remains within the pre-known playing area;determining for any given instant that the game object is free if itlies outside of all players' areas of influence during game time-in;determining for any given instant that the game object is undercontention if it lies within at least one player's area of influence forthe current moment, but has not been within this area for more than someconsecutive minimum time during game time-in, and determining for anygiven instant that the game object is in possession of a player if ithas remained within their area of influence for at least some minimumtime during game time-in while it does not also at this moment liewithin another player's area of influence.
 17. The method of claim 16where the step for determining that the game object is in possession ofa player alternately assigns possession to any player if either the gameobject's trajectory or it's acceleration is detected to have beenaltered by at least some minimum amount after it enters the area ofinfluence of that player, where the detected change optionally reliesupon a predicted game object location that is not achieved in order toassume that the trajectory or acceleration has been altered by thatplayer, and where this detected change is also outside of the area ofinfluence of all other players.
 18. The method of claim 16 where thestep for determining for any given instant that the game object is freeuses either a instantaneous measurement of distance between each playerand the game object as the basis for this comparison or it uses anaverage of two or more distance measurements over two or more instants,likewise between the same player and the game object.
 19. The method ofclaim 16 where the step of determining game object contention as well asthe step of determining game object possession both use some minimumtime that is dynamically adjusted based upon any combination of thetrajectory or velocity of the game object as well as the trajectory orvelocity of the player under consideration.
 20. The method of claim 16where system that provides continuous data concerning player locationsmatched to their identity further provides each player's orientation,comprising the additional step of: constricting a player's area ofpotential influence to be a sector of the circle centered about theplayer's location that is aligned to match the player's orientation.